Spelling rule
Homophones
Homophones sound the same but have different spellings and meanings. Spellcheckers miss them, and 11+ papers love them.
How it works
- 1
there, their, they're
- over there (a place)
- their coats (belonging to them)
- they're late (they are)
- 2
to, too, two
- go to school
- me too / too hot
- two cats
- 3
Statutory words with a sound-alike
- heard / herd
- weight / wait
- reign / rain / rein
- eight / ate
- through / threw
- 4
Nouns and verbs that are nearly the same
- breath (noun) / breathe (verb)
- advice / advise
- practice / practise
- effect (noun) / affect (verb)
Watch out
- its and it's are a punctuation question as well as a spelling one: see the guide to its and it's.
Memory trick
To check their, try 'our' in its place: if it still makes sense, their is right.
Words to practise
Years 3 and 4 statutory words
- heard
- weight
- reign
- eight
- through
- breath
- breathe
More everyday words
- there
- their
- they're
- where
- wear
- piece
- peace
Practise a few minutes a day
The daily spelling workout brings back the words your child finds tricky, and shows you which rules they need to revisit.